- For Immediate Release
- Contact: Tim Rinker
- Email: [email protected]
TEAMology Launches Teamtalk, an Intuitive, Hybrid, Social & Emotional Learning Screening and Coaching Tool for Students in Grades 3-8.
Pittsburgh, PA (August 30, 2021) -- TEAMology, a K-12 Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) professional learning organization, announced the launch of a new intuitive hybrid screening and coaching platform, TEAMtalk, an AI-powered conversational evaluation and support tool designed to provide real-time support for both students and school teams. TEAMtalk was built in collaboration with Penn State and Tech02.
TEAMology has 6 characters that promote social and emotional foundational skills in a relatable way for students. TEAMtalk by TEAMology is launching with flagship personality, Ruby, who focuses on building resilience. Students in grades three through eight can chat with Ruby in various ways. The first is a screening where students engage in a conversation with Ruby who is asking evidence-based questions to gain insight around the students’ social and emotional well-being. The second is through coaching, an opportunity for the student to openly chat with Ruby about struggles or concerns and learn helpful and healthy tips, strategies, and methods in real time.
Teachers in schools that piloted TEAMtalk have celebrated the tool, sharing feedback such as, “I can use reports to help guide my teaching and interactions with students.” Another pilot user promotes the very foundation of TEAMtalk’s mission by stating, “It is beneficial to know the factors affecting students’ resilience.”
TEAMtalk was built with safety and the current needs of educators in mind. There is a danger word identification trigger in the system that provides immediate information to the appropriate school personnel to connect with the student right away. TEAMtalk is meant to be a triage tool that can help alleviate stress from an overstressed system. While it's been shown that all students can benefit from engagement with TEAMtalk, the target audience is tier two students in a Multi-tiered System of Supports (MTSS) model.
In addition to Ruby, other characters support growth in helping others, positive change, acceptance, problem solving, and leadership. The animated characters also grow with students and are reflective of appropriate age and grade levels. TEAMology has also partnered with public media company WQED, home of "Mister Rogers' Neighborhood,” to launch puppets and vignettes of the characters.
Some students are recommended for individual coaching in addition to the screening with TEAMTalk characters. While coaching does not replace therapy or counseling, it can be used as a triage tool and as an additional support to build SEL-related skills.
In year one of piloting and beta testing, Teamtalk supported roughly 300 students. 100% of students reported preferring to talk with Ruby over a parent, teacher, or counselor. This was due to feeling as though she was non-judgmental, offered a safe environment, and was non-threatening. Nearly all student participants reported that the tips and strategies were helpful and something they could use right away in their lives. Additional data shows that 100% of students who participated in a post survey indicated that speaking with Ruby affected their emotions and well-being in a positive way.
Dr. Laura Jana, board certified pediatrician, author, health communicator with adjunct faculty appointment at the Prevention Research Center, and strategic adviser to TEAMology said, “These findings support the idea that children are receptive to using digital technology, in this case related to social-emotional learning. This level of enthusiasm is particularly good news, given the current, and likely continued, dependence on digital delivery platforms — not just because of the pandemic, but also because of the potential for increased accessibility/scalability as compared to in-person equivalent.”
Linsey Covert, founder and CEO of TEAMology said, “Now more than ever, we need to understand how we can help students where they are struggling socially and emotionally. Our approach has been to build a personalized tool that leans on the comprehensive content we’ve been building for over 15 years. We didn’t want our student-facing product to just be a gamified app of our characters. It was important that TEAMology develop the right tool to meet students’ social and emotional needs and provide critical information to schools to better understand what those needs are.This tool is the perfect combination of a human plus technology approach and we are so excited to get it out into the world.”
Teamtalk is available for implementation this school year, and can be added as an initiative at any point of the year. Learn more about pricing and product details at https://teamology.team/teamtalk/.